RANK OUTLAW · EDITORIAL DECISION RECORD

Why we corrected the 14% claim

Internal editorial review, September 22, 2026. This records an actual change to this article, not a controlled experiment or client performance case study.

Before

One says 14% of AI Mode citations come from Google's organic top 10.

Source check

SE Ranking’s study reports average exact-URL overlap across 9,721 keywords. Its cited page does not specify the overlap formula’s denominator. “Share of all citations” was therefore an unsupported interpretation.

Decision

Use “14% URL overlap,” disclose the unresolved denominator, and distinguish 87.3% coverage within the rare AIM SERP block category. Retaining the simpler original wording would conceal the methodological limit; inventing a denominator would create another unsupported claim.

Observed result and limit

The article wording and comparison guidance changed. No change in citations, traffic, conversions, or revenue has been measured from this correction. This record establishes the editorial decision only.

Version evidence

Original September 18 source SHA-256:
02ce54105aceb92071a0218efcf3a219d649ac0b5d5481c499205d845b03be8a

Revised September 22 source SHA-256:
89c64400fa59f0bf9841f7274782198767c528d4a72a6e503fea94a057dd0a2e

The hashes identify the source files used for this correction; they do not certify the article’s research or performance.